Only School Parents - The Photo Proof That Shatters Vorapak's Denial

Welcome to Whale Hunting, where we follow the money from Southeast Asian scam centers to Manhattan penthouses, exposing the criminal networks that cost Americans billions each year.

Thailand's former Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong resigned this week—just hours after our reporting revealed his wife received $2.94 million in cryptocurrency from a Chinese-Cambodian criminal network. He denied our reporting and threatened to sue for defamation. His most audacious defense? He only knew Benjamin Mauerberger, the alleged South African front for the $1.5 billion network, as a casual acquaintance from his child's school.

What Vorapak Said About His Relationship With Benjamin Mauerberger

Regarding Mr. Benjamin Mauerberger, I know him because my child and his child attend the same school in Thailand. I have never known in depth what business Mr. Benjamin conducts or what his business relationship with Mr. Leak Yim is, as Mr. Benjamin and I are only parents of students who are the same age, in the same class, and at the same school.

That claim is demonstrably false.

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We have obtained photos from a business trip in 2020 showing Vorapak Tanyawong, Benjamin Mauerberger and Mauerberger's wife, Cattaliya Beevor, together. Yim Leak, Mauerberger's Cambodian business partner, was also on the trip.

The photos completely contradicts the "school-gate acquaintance" narrative.

The photo evidence confirms a relationship between the families dating back years—not a casual acquaintance from school.

This established, close relationship makes the coordinated $24 million cryptocurrency transaction on January 7, 2025, even more damning:

1. Same Day: Both wives sold shares in a Singapore fund that had rights to a 24% stake in Thai finance company Finansia X PCL.
2. Same Buyer: Beteverse Limited (a shell company directed by Li Hang, an executive for convicted money-laundering crypto exchange KuCoin).
3. Same Wallet: Both payments went to the exact same crypto address.
4. Same Relationship: Both families had a business relationship dating back to at least 2020.

These secret coordinated actions gave KuCoin and the Mauerberger network control of Finansia, and a channel to move money between crypto and the regular financial sector without oversight.

Mauerberger isn't just a fixer—he's a critical financial bridge. He launders billions in proceeds from a sanctioned, Chinese-owned business in Cambodia tied directly to scam centers. This is the source of the largest financial crime today in the U.S., costing Americans an estimated $10 billion in lost savings annually.

The guy on the right of the photo is Yim Bun Leang, a cousin of Yim Leak, and the man entrusted with handling Chinese investors who wanted to launder money through BIC Bank – and then into Thailand the global financial system.

Vorapak denies being an adviser to BIC Bank, which Mauerberger and Yim Leak set up in 2017. But these new photos show his connections to the Cambodians – as well as Benjamin Mauerberger and his wife.

Vorapak's insistence that he was merely a victim of defamation and a distant school associate is utterly refuted by the photographic evidence. The photos, combined with the corporate filings and blockchain evidence, prove the two families were not merely school parents, but long-time associates coordinating a major financial transaction with a convicted money-laundering exchange.

For the full documentation and blockchain evidence on the $24 million transfer, read our story from this week (free with email signup).

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